Mines, oil down in listless trade
The local stock barometer hardly moved in listless trading Monday as the market entered a consolidation phase.
The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) ended flat, closing at 7,103.54 or a hairline (-0.01 point or-.0001 percent) below Friday’s finish. Across the region, most markets ended higher on optimism on European banks.
The mining/oil counter was most battered for the day while the industrial, services and property counters posted marginal declines. On the other hand, the financial and holding firm counters saw meager increases.
The market shied away from buying large-cap stocks, instead focusing on issues like Premium Leisure Corp. (+3.55 percent) and Abra Mining and Industrial Corp. (+13.75 percent).
PLC recently completed a follow-on offering that widened its public ownership while AR was buoyed by backdoor listing speculations.
Value turnover for the day amounted to P5.63 billion. There were more than twice as many decliners for every single gainer. Doris C. Dumlao
